36. Roger Williams Park Zoo Providence, Rhode Island Karner Blue New Hampshire Fish and Game
37.
38. New England Conservation Collaborative Roger Williams Park Zoo Boston Museum of Science Beardsley Zoo Buttonwood Park Zoo Zoo New England U.S. Fish and Wildlife New Hampshire Fish and Game
42. Seth L. Willey, ESA Recovery Coordinator U.S. FWS Mountain-Prairie Regional Office Denver, CO Leslie Ellwood, Wildlife Biologist, Colorado Field Office of Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pawnee Montane Skipper
43. Growth of Project Partnerships Colorado College Colorado State Forest Service
44.
45.
46. Partners Lead: University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History – workshop host Partners: BFCI AZA Toledo Zoo – workshop host Oregon Zoo – workshop host Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden – workshop host Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum – workshop host
59. Using a Decision Tree to Select a Conservation Project Go To Correct Decision Tree Choosing a Butterfly Recovery Project Low Resources Mid-Low Resources Mid-High Resources High Resources Donation to BFCI or partner Habitat Restoration Education Field Research Captive Breeding Go To Correct Decision Tree Go To Correct Decision Tree Go To Correct Decision Tree
60. Together, within a community of partners, we have a greater impact than any of us can have alone.
61.
Notas do Editor
Effective conservation efforts depend on a wide and diverse range of stakeholders acting collaboratively. Organizations and institutions that may not be traditional partners must work together to achieve a common goal.
In 2001, conversations between the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Partnerships and Outreach prompted a surprising joint effort
At that time it was realized that… Many AZA zoos and aquariums, particularly smaller facilities, were actively seeking opportunities to contribute to North American conservation efforts.
By demonstrating a commitment to local wildlife, these institutions could position themselves as community conservation leaders.
Butterfly conservation and recovery offers a unique opportunity for zoos and aquariums of all sizes to participate in field conservation in a meaningful way.
Hands-on efforts, including habitat restoration and creation, native plant propagation, captive rearing, education and outreach, and population monitoring, could offer participants a chance to connect directly with species and habitats in need while helping to inform their visitor base.
Hands-on efforts, including habitat restoration and creation, native plant propagation, captive rearing, education and outreach, and population monitoring, could offer participants a chance to connect directly with species and habitats in need while helping to inform their visitor base.
Hands-on efforts, including habitat restoration and creation, native plant propagation, captive rearing, education and outreach, and population monitoring, could offer participants a chance to connect directly with species and habitats in need while helping to inform their visitor base.
With funding provided by the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – The Butterfly Conservation Initiative, or BFCI was born
BFCI is dedicated to the conservation of endangered, threatened, and vulnerable North American butterflies and the habitats that sustain them, with a focus on recovery , research and education .
So who are we?
Coalition of North American zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and museums
Our Members pledge financial support for BFCI activities
Some members are leaders in conservation
Others are taking their first steps
BFCI Builds Capacity - Facilitates collaborative efforts , Connects butterfly colleagues, Makes available butterfly conservation resources, Offers opportunities for staff learning
BFCI networks - Provides access to information and the suggestions of other experts, Raises project visibility, Keeps people updated, Supports further engagement in invertebrate conservation
Butterflies are just the beginning: we are actively Building coalitions for conservation, BFCI is a model for other cooperative efforts, Every participant can claim ownership, share resources and lessons learned, BFCI serves as facilitator, leaving members and partners to focus on the efforts on the ground
Nine years later, we have grown to include eight valuable partners and our partnership opportunities continue to grow. BFCI’s most recent partnership with the USDA Forest Service has opened some 193 million acres to conservation efforts
BFCI strives to empower its members and partners to work individually and collaboratively to affect butterfly conservation and offer opportunities for engagement suitable to diverse interests and strengths.
In 2007, BFCI moved from the offices of AZA in Maryland to become a program hosted
by the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of Natural History University of Florida.
It serves both public education and research and functions.
houses the largest global collection of Lepidoptera – in excess of 9.5 million specimens
and features a year round Butterfly Rainforest
Of primary importance is the conservation of the federally endangered Schaus Swallowtail and the state endangered Miami Blue. Two recovery programs dependent upon collaborative partnerships.
My husband Dr. Jaret Daniels and I initiated the captive colony of the Miami Blue in the spring of 2003. Monitoring, captive propagation and reintroduction involves the combined efforts of the McGuire Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commission, National Wildlife Refuge System and the Florida Department of Environmental Education.
Prime examples of butterfly conservation projects that have passed through many stages of development are the programs led by two of our members, the Oregon Zoo and the Toledo Zoo. Programs that began with a single-species focus have evolved to include education, habitat restoration, and research benefitting multiple species. As you will hear about Oregon Zoo’s stellar accomplishments from Linda We’ll move on to Toledo. The Toledo Zoo has made the conservation of regional butterflies a top priority. In conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Nature Conservancy, the Zoo began restoring habitat at the Kitty Todd Preserve at Oak Openings.
In addition, the Zoo began working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, collecting female Karner Blue specimens for captive breeding; and in 1998, they became the first institution to breed the Karner Blue butterfly for reintroduction into the wild.
Their restoration and reintroduction work has gone on to include many additional partnerships.
Woodland Park Zoo and Lewis and Clark College have been directly aiding the recovery effort for the Oregon silverspot through the preservation of habitat and the augmentation of the declining wild population. Zoo staff is captively raising and releasing Silverspot larvae and propagating early blue violets, the silverspot’s larval host plant.
Working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game, the Roger Williams Park Zoo rears Karner Blue butterfly larvae and propagates wild lupine.
In a project that began in 2002, the Zoo is planting hundreds of lupine plants and delivering Karner Blue butterfly larvae reared at the Zoo to the Karner Blue restoration site in Concord, New Hampshire.
The recently established New England Conservation Collaborative consists of the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Boston Museum of Science, Beardsley Zoo, Buttonwood Park Zoo, Zoo New England, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group effort multiplied the 2008 field season’s impact by almost five-fold and expanded the existing habitat restoration area.
The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio is involved in large-scale habitat restoration. For the last several years, the Wilds has been transforming this once coal-mined landscape into a rich habitat capable of supporting a diversity of Ohio native pollinators. The original concept was developed in partnership with BFCI and Ohio Zoos in 2002 and focused primarily on native butterfly populations, but it has now evolved to include other pollinators such as native bees.
As the habitat expands and improves, the Wilds is conducting concurrent population monitoring following guidelines provided by The Ohio Lepidopterist Society. Research has also begun in partnership with Ohio State University to investigate the ecological factors influencing the assembly of pollinator communities on highly altered lands following restoration of high quality pollinator habitat.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is an example of how a project can perpetuate partnerships. Staff at the Zoo contacted BFCI in 2008 insearch of conservation opportunities that might benefit from their new Quarters for Conservation program. The program allocates a portion of the fees paid for Zoo admission, memberships and classes to wildlife conservation. The program basically allows visitors to determine the amount that individual conservation projects receive. BFCI researched species in need and suggested two potential projects.
Regional offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service were contacted, and conversations began between with the Colorado office’s Endangered Species Coordinator, species leads, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Della Garelle, DVM, Director of Conservation and Animal Health. The Federally threatened Pawnee Montane Skipper was the chosen project focus and its needs according to the Recovery Plan were reviewed. BFCI provided a comprehensive draft project plan as well as a draft 2-year budget for potential surrogate species breeding should it be required as the recovery effort evolves. Additional conversations covered such topics as the need for initial habitat restoration and requirements surrounding habitat access.
This program now supports new research through Colorado College, and habitat restoration with both the Colorado and U.S. Forest Service and Wild Connections.
Cheyenne Mt. Zoo and community volunteers have already participated in monitoring training, transect surveys and actual habitat restoration.
BFCI is currently partnering on an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant that is providing funds for the Imperiled Butterfly Conservation and Management program. It is a three-year, intensive cross-training program designed to strengthen the capacity of institutions and their staff to play a strategic role in insect and conservation biology, with a targeted focus on imperiled butterfly recovery.
The program consists of five workshops of progressive content, each at a different host institution. All focus on captive breeding and reintroduction, overview of focal taxa and the corresponding conservation programs
Objectives: 1. improve staff practices through technical training, resources, and mentoring 2.promote broader information exchange 3) foster increased interaction and collaboration 4) strengthen institutional ability to develop new or improve existing butterfly conservation programs.
IBCM provides intimate, hands-on laboratory and field training opportunities to share information and learn best-practices and mentoring in addition to the knowledge and skills development, a feature essential for implementation of new practices or change
Butterfly Conservation Needs You
Lack of staff often reduces the capacity of a facility to effectively carryout captive breeding or habitat restoration projects.
Many facilities lack the expertise to effectively handle the necessary plant species required for captive propagation or habitat restoration.
Many facilities have space limitations and have to compete with other projects for the limited space available.
Many facilities lack experience with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices so as not to negatively impact target taxa.
Often facilities lack sources of specific native species, especially those not readily commercially available. Projects might require plants of a specific genotype not readily available .
What Conservation Can Do For You Awe your visitors and create awareness of local conservation needs:
at a lower expense
utilizing less space
requiring less effort than that of a larger taxa
BFCI can supply you with a tool to help you determine the best fit your institution’s resources. Decision trees that match low to high resource scenarios can get you involved in a level that is appropriate and meaningful
Together, within a community of partners, we have a greater impact than any of us can have alone.
It is with the utmost gratitude that I thank the BFCI members and contributors and partners for their wonderful support. They are the ones ultimately responsible for the progress being made in butterfly conservation.
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